Most of us are familiar with the ancient story of Abraham
and his desire to have a son. In the Biblical account of his story,
Abraham first has a son through his 'handmaiden' Hagar.
This son is named Ishmael and is Abraham's first born son. When
Abraham's second son is born, this son named Isaac, is declared
the 'son of promise.' The Jews today claim decent from Abraham
through this second son, Isaac. Few people today, however, know
what happened to the descendants of Ishmael. It is often assumed
that they simply became the Arabs of the Middle East, but to most
of us, our knowledge of them stops there. The Bible gives us the
following record:

"But as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: behold I have
blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him
exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him
a great nation." Genesis 17:20

"Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's
son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore unto Abraham:
And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names,
according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth,
and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and Mishma, and Dumah, and
Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedmah. These are the
sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns and
by their encampments; twelve princes according to their nations."
Genesis 25:12-16

In 1932 David J. Gibson set out
to map the chronologies of the Bible, and in doing so he came
across the puzzle of what happened to the sons of Ishmael. In
order to complete his chronology mapping he began a life-long
search for answers to this question. Ten years after his death,
his son Dan Gibson took up the challenge and flew to the Middle
East to continue the search. That search has now lasted over thirty
years and has led me to many of the remote parts of Arabia. Dan
has lived in the Empty Quarter of Arabia, climbed the mountains
of Yemen, lived among the Howietat of southern Jordan, and crossed
the burning deserts of Saudi. He has also spoken to many of the
great archaeologists who work in the Middle East, and has examined
countless books and thesis in pursuing answers to this question.
Below is a brief summary of what Dan's father started and what
he has continued.

The Muslim understanding of how the Bedouin tribes originated
is outlined in the chart below. (Some Bible scholars identify
the Muslim Kahtan as the Biblical Joktan. See The
Founding of the Nations Chart.)

The Biblical record of Ishmael gives us the names of the 12
sons, but no clue as to how they might be connected to the modern
Bedouin Tribes. This list is given to us in Genesis 25 and is
later repeated in I Chronicles 1:29-33.

"And these are their generations: the first-born of
Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, Mishma,
and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
These are the sons of Ishmael."

These sons eventually took wives, had children, and through
these children, tribes were formed. These tribes made up the nations
that dwelt from Havilah to Shur, and from Egypt to Assyria. The
descendants of Ishmael, however, were not the sole tribes in the
Arabian Desert. Other tribes emerged from other sources. Some
of these became the people of South Arabia and others also wandered
and settled in Arabia. For a chronology, see The
Founding of the Nations Chart.

In the menu below we will examine the twelve sons of Ishmael,
and try and determine what might have happened to them.